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Ed Clark
This article is about the Libertarian Party politician. For other people of the same name, see Edward Clark. Ed Clark (born 1930) is an American lawyer and politician who ran for Governor of California in 1978, and for President of the United States as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1980 presidential election. Clark is an honors graduate of Tabor Academy and Dartmouth College, and received a law degree from Harvard Law School. 1978 California governor campaign In 1978, Clark received some 377,960 votes, 5.46% of the popular vote, in a race for Governor of California. Although a member of the Libertarian Party, he appeared on the California ballot as an independent candidate.Doherty, Brian. Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement, New York: Publicaffairs, p. 406 According to a 1980 article in Mother Jones magazine, Clark's 1978 vote ran strongest in "wealthy Orange County, a long-time stronghold of right-wing sentiments; in the back country of the Sierra Nevada, where loggers, miners and developers rail against government restrictions on land use; in Berkeley and the gay neighborhoods of San Francisco, which share the Libertarians' antipathy for drug laws and vice squads; and in the cocaine-and-Perrier precincts of Marin County..."Paul, Mark. "Seducing the Left: The Third Party That Wants YOU". Mother Jones, May 1980. Another factor leading to the unprecedented (for California) 5.46% vote total for Clark was his libertarian campaign occurring the same year as the successful Proposition 13 which limited property taxes, and the unsuccessful anti-gay Briggs Initiative (Proposition 6). Clark and the California Libertarian Party campaigned in support for Proposition 13Doherty, p. 405-406 and in opposition to Proposition 6''Libertarian Review'', vol. 7 no. 9 October 1978 both of which turned out people to the polls who might be more inclined to favor a libertarian candidate. Clark lost the race to Jerry Brown, who was re-elected with 56% of the vote. Republican nominee Evelle J. Younger had 36.5% of the vote.JoinCalifornia election history for the state of California, http://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1978-11-07 1980 Presidential campaign In 1979 he won the Libertarian Party presidential nomination at the party's convention in Los Angeles, California. He published a book on his programs, entitled "A New Beginning". The book's introduction was by Eugene McCarthy. During the campaign, Clark positioned himself as a peace candidate and emphasized both large budget and tax cuts, as well as outreach to liberals and progressives unhappy with the resumption of Selective Service registration and the arms race with the Soviet Union.See, for example, The "Ed Clark: Isolationist Libertarian" television ad at http://www.icue.com/portal/site/iCue/chapter/?cuecard=5818 and NBC's August 8, 1980 profile of the Libertarian Party at http://www.icue.com/portal/site/iCue/chapter/?cuecard=3253 Clark was endorsed by the Peoria Journal Star of Peoria, Illinois.Doherty, p. 414 When asked in a television interview to summarize libertarianism, Clark used the phrase "low-tax liberalism," causing some consternation among traditional libertarian theorists, most notably Murray Rothbard.Doherty, p. 415Raimondo, Justin. An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard, Prometheus Books Clark's running to the center marked the start of a split within the Libertarian Party between a moderate faction led by Ed Crane and a radical faction led by RothbardHayes, Christopher. "Ron Paul's Roots". The Nation, December 6, 2007 that eventually came to a head in 1983, with the moderate faction walking out of the party convention after the nomination for the 1984 presidential race went to David Bergland.Doherty, p. 418-421 Ed Clark's running mate in 1980 was David H. Koch of Koch Industries, who pledged part of his personal fortune to the campaign for the vice-presidential nomination, enabling the Clark/Koch ticket to largely self-fund and run national television advertising. Clark received 921,128 votes (1.06% of the total nationwide);U.S. Presidential Election Atlas, http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1980&off=0&f=1 the highest number and percentage of popular votes a Libertarian Party candidate had ever received in a presidential race up to that point. His strongest support was in Alaska, where he came in third place with 11.66% of the vote, finishing ahead of independent candidate John Anderson and receiving almost half as many votes as Jimmy Carter.U.S. Presidential Election Atlas, http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1980&fips=2&f=1&off=0&elect=0 Clark's record for most votes won by a Libertarian presidential candidate stood for 32 years until it was broken by Gary Johnson in 2012. His Libertarian percentage record of 1.06% still stands, ranking ahead of Johnson's 0.97%.2012 Presidential Election at Our CampaignsU.S. Presidential Election Atlas See also * * References External links ;About *Clark, Edward E. "Ed" at Our Campaigns. Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:American lawyers Category:California Libertarians Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:United States presidential candidates, 1980